Words of Parting
by Amorous Malboro
Summary: Sephiroth confronts Jenova at the moment of death and tries to understand why she is leaving him. Post Advent Children. No pairings, just maternal affection.


**Words of Parting**

* * *

"Mother? Mother, _please_…"

Somewhere in the limbo between the Lifestream and the abyssal heavenly planes of the Promised Land, there were a pair of entities.

"Please don't do this. _Mother_," The voice was male and smooth like velvet, but it was serious and thickened with a sad undertone. "Mother, _I need you_."

_Know. Understanding. Absolute._

Her fingertips twitched when his long, silver hair grazed over their touch. The mottled blue and purple skin was cold under his gentle hands, and it frightened him to see her from the torso up, though it was all that remained of her physically. For once in her life, she was not imprisoned in a lab and impaled in plastic tubing and wire. She no longer possessed the memory of what smiling was like to these creatures she had interacted with, but she understood the emotion.

_Freedom. Happiness. Resolute._

"Mother," His voice was beginning to crack. His throat was hot and it felt like it was on fire. The cool, alien eyes, with their strange reptilian pupils and eerie mako glow were taciturn and stoic; for the first time in almost two decades, the almighty Sephiroth felt like crying. He was confused by his mother's happiness. He understood her emotions perfectly, but her choice wasn't making sense anymore. Sephiroth broke.

**Need. Want. Stay. Forever**. **Always. Abandonment. Fear. Betrayal. Anger. Sadness**.

His hands gripped hers tighter. "Mother," he tried to whisper.

Jenova could feel her strength leaving her slowly, ebbing away and floating into the Lifestream she was never supposed to be a part of. Her own memories from decades ago reminded her of her own arrival on the planet and her original creator, her mother. Her eyes radiated with an eerie glow, and to reassure her son, she squeezed his hand weakly. He froze at the action, waiting intently for a command response.

_Understanding. Want. Acceptance. Death._

Sephiroth frowned and his teeth clenched together. **Never. Together. Always. Mother. Bond. Forever.**

Jenova wished she could remember how to pacify him, but sating Sephiroth's fears had always been more challenging as he'd grown. There was never a time where she hadn't been able to speak to him however, whether he knew it or not.

_Understanding. Planet. Cycle. Life. Death. Life. Acceptance. Absolute. Neverending. Together. Forever. Always. Never. Apart._

"But you will be gone!"

Jenova mused to herself mentally. It was as though he was six years old again, imprisoned in the same lab as she, wishing for a view of the outside world and wondering what children with parents were like. It was as though it was the first day she had let herself be known to him, though she had not told him of who she was. To do so would have destroyed him. No, she had not done such a thing, but she had given him a place to go to. Any time Hojo made him hurt or frightened, he could always go to Jenova. She was everywhere, even inside of his cells.

_Never. Apart. Always. Together. Bond. Mother. Always. Never. Forget._

She paused, and she felt him surging with panic and frustration, the fear of losing her.

_Always. Internal. Voice. Forever. Comfort. Calm. Sing. Peace._

Sephiroth blinked, still studying her face intently and trying to keep himself from reacting. Jenova shuddered, her thin fingers grasping his as pain flooded her body. He felt her pain, and for once he wanted to do nothing more than abate it. He soothed her with words, and her body calmed. **Silence. Darkness. Peace. Tranquility.**

Jenova strained herself to turn her head, and her half-lidded eyes closed in a moment's rest.

_Calm. Acceptance. Painless._

Then her eyes opened, and she stared directly at Sephiroth.

_Freedom. Happiness. Pride. Mother. Bond. Love. Always_.

"Mother?"

Jenova twitched.

_Love. Forever. Smile._

As the last of her warmth left her, the purple, alien lips curved upwards, and her eyes closed slowly to form the shapes of half moons. A feminine voice whispered somewhere close to Sephiroth's ears, and he shivered as a feeling of coolness trickled over his spine.

"_My dearest son_…"

**Fin.**


End file.
